He was trembling, his face pale, eyes wide. He couldn’t seem to wrap his fingers around the gun.
I put a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look at me. “Dylan, I need you to promise me you can do this. I’m not going to send you in there if you can’t handle it.”
He met my eyes, swallowing. “I-I can handle it.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.” He gripped the gun. “I’ll be okay.”
“After it’s over, I’ll take care of everything. No one will ever know. I promise you.”
“No police?” he croaked.
“No police,” I assured him. “Your mom would be the only one who could tell, and she’s not going to want you to go to prison. You’ll be saving us. Bringing us all back together.”
My phone chimed with a text message from M.
Dylan is missing. Is he with you?
“They know you’re gone,” I told him.
“Mom’s been calling me all morning,” he admitted, looking guilty. “From Grandma’s phone. I was scared to answer.”
“That was smart. We don’t want to give them the upper hand.”
I texted my mother-in-law back quickly. I’ve got him. He’s safe. Let me in the side door and I’ll explain.
“Alright.” I studied him, nodding affirmatively. “You ready?”
“Mhm.” He didn’t look ready, but he pushed the door open anyway, sliding the gun in the back of his belt like I’d shown him. He crossed the street, making his way up the walk just as I jogged across her lawn toward the side door.
He rang the doorbell, and it opened in an instant. I pressed my body to the side of the house, waiting until it shut to knock on the exterior side door that led to the laundry room.
I waited, then knocked again.
When no one answered, I twisted the knob. It was locked, as I’d expected.
Come on, Adele. Where are you?
I didn’t have time to waste. I shoved my hand through the glass window, ignoring the pain that tore through my hand and turned the lock. I stepped inside the house, shutting it behind me and listening closely.
“You put us all in danger, is the point!” Ainsley was screaming.
“Now, I asked you if he was dangerous, and you said no. How was I supposed to know the truth when all you do is lie to me?” Adele argued.
“You told him where we were—”
“Mom, stop!” Dylan shouted. “This isn’t Dad’s fault.”
“I just wanted the two of you to be together again. I wanted to help you fix your marriage. All I’ve ever wanted for you is what I didn’t have,” Adele said.
“I trusted you. I trusted you, and you betrayed me.” Ainsley was furious, and with good reason. If my mother-in-law hadn’t told me where to find Ainsley at the hotel and arranged for Matt to take her out long enough for me to sneak in, I might not have found her at all. She was so sure Matt would show her how much she needed me, how lucky she was to have me. That had been a major miscalculation, but still. Having her help was a tremendous boon to my plan. She’d been on my side, even more than her daughter’s. She knew what a mistake it was for Ainsley to leave me. “And you,” Ainsley was saying, “sweetheart, you scared us to death. Why would you do that? Why would you run away and not tell anyone?” It sounded like she was crying.
“Why are you here, Mom?” he asked, going off script. “And what did you do to your hair? Did he make you dye it?”
No.
He was supposed to pretend everything was fine until he could get a good angle and go in for the kill.
“What?”
“Why are you leaving Dad? For him? What’s he done to you?”
“No. Dylan, you’ve got it all wrong—”
“Do I? What happened to your face? What did he do?”
“He? Oh, sweetheart, Matt didn’t do this. Matt’s a friend. But, listen, honey, we have to go. Your dad could be here any minute, and—”
“He’s already here,” he said firmly.
“What?” she gasped.
“He brought me.”
“At least he brought him back to you,” Adele said. “See, he was trying to help.”
Ignoring her now, Ainsley spoke directly to our son. “Dylan, there are some things you need to know about your father, and—”
“There’s a car outside,” Matt confirmed.
“We don’t need you to tell her what I already told her, asshole,” Dylan shouted, his voice erratic. He was losing control. Getting too emotional. He wasn’t ready for this.